There are solely three levels left within the 2024 Tour de France, and of the 5 riders presently mendacity highest on GC, veteran Soudal-QuickStep racer Mikel Landa is probably the one which surprises probably the most.
Whereas the Basque star, fifth total at 13:24 behind chief Tadej Pogačar (UAE Crew Emirates), confirmed on Thursday that he’s doing a lot better than he anticipated, he additionally insisted, maybe surprisingly, that his 2024 Tour type is inferior to it has been in earlier July editions.
“I’m doing properly, I’m having fun with it, and I’m properly up there,” he instructed a small group of reporters earlier than stage 18. “However I got here right here with the thought of simply serving to Remco. Nonetheless, little by little I received up there within the GC and my present putting is best now than I anticipated.”
Fourth within the 2017 Tour de France, he got here inside a whisker of constructing the rostrum however was pipped to the publish within the closing time trial by Romain Bardet. Landa insisted that regardless of presently being in such hallowed firm as Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) within the prime 5 presently, to not point out his personal teammate Evenepoel in third, “this isn’t actually my greatest Tour. I got here to different Excursions in higher form”.
“2017 was good, however so had been 2018 and 2019, too should you don’t decide all of it on the outcomes. Again then I used to be extra formidable, I used to be extra within the battle for the race, I attacked extra too,” he defined.
“This yr,” he added a shade ruefully, “all I’m doing is chasing down the others.”
Landa was happy, all the identical, given the present record-breaking common pace of the Tour, and the rather more aggressive model of Grand Tour racing normally, which has brought about a lot of his contemporaries to quietly shelve the thought of combating for the general. And for all he’s now 34, Landa nonetheless stays within the GC fray, whereas nonetheless holding down a key workforce position as Remco’s key lieutenant for the climbing levels.
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“That’s true, the years go by and I’m nonetheless up there,” Landa recognised, “near the highest names.”
As for a way he views Soudal-QuickStep’s technique for the previous couple of days of the Tour, with two monumental mountain levels and a really robust closing time trial nonetheless to return.
“Rather a lot will depend upon how UAE Crew Emirates and Visma choose to play the race, and we’ll must react to that,” he mentioned. “We’ve got to remain shut, be watchful and if Vingegaard has a nasty day or makes a mistake, attempt to take advantage of it to place Remco up a step on the rostrum.”
Stage 19 features a uncommon ascent to 2,800 metres above sea stage on the summit of the Bonette-Restefond, a peak solely sometimes reached by the Tour and the ‘ceiling’ of this yr’s race.
“We do quite a lot of altitude coaching today so a lot of the riders are pretty used to these sorts of heights. However for positive that’ll do some harm, too, identical to after we went over the Galibier on stage 4,” Landa recognised, noting one other Alpine monster climb which peaked out at 2,642 metres above sea stage within the first week.
Precedence with Evenepoel
Landa’s wonderful place total may current Soudal-QuickStep with one thing of a GC dilemma concerning whether or not they’ll defend his place within the dying days of the Tour in addition to focussing on Evenepoel. However the Basque says that whereas his fifth place is a valued asset for the Belgian squad, Evenepoel’s podium battle logically takes priority.
“My precedence is to assist Remco, and check out to make sure he finishes as excessive as attainable on the rostrum. However I’m excited about that fourth place too, and I’ll attempt to end as shut as I can to it in Good.
“Quite than the climbs, the important thing day for Remco may properly be the [stage 21] time trial. Nonetheless, he may get a while again then, too, so the nearer he’s to Vingegaard beforehand, the higher.”
Landa has been and nonetheless is a vastly essential a part of the Soudal-QuickStep line-up on this yr’s Tour, notably within the two robust climbing levels to return. However such is Evenepoel’s quickness to be taught that Landa says one other position he previously had, that of giving Remco recommendation on Grand Tour technique, is changing into more and more irrelevant.
“The race itself is educating him about methods to deal with his energy and calculate what to do,” Landa mentioned. “I feel the race is educating him greater than I may do.”
Landa’s personal unfettered GC choices, in any case, will come within the Vuelta a España – which Evenepoel just isn’t racing – and unsurprisingly given his wonderful Tour de France thus far, Landa is more and more optimistic.
“I feel it’ll be a great race for me,” he mentioned. “From what I can see right here within the Tour, I’m going to get there in fine condition.”
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